Chapter 9 · Freefall Pact

"Don't let go!" Vesper shouted as the train roof dropped out from under us.

Her hand was locked around the mag-lev's emergency rail. Mine had slipped free when the rear car tore loose, leaving me with one boot hooked over a buckled panel and a hundred stories of open air under my ribs.

The train screamed below us.

Not metaphorically. Metal shrieked against the broken rail while the cars tipped into the dead abyss, their windows flashing with muzzle fire and emergency strobes. The blast ahead had ripped the track open. The lead cars were already falling. Behind them, the rest of the train folded like a chain of steel knives.

Vesper hung three feet away, black coat snapping in the wind. Her silver hair had come loose from its tie, whipping across her face. Blood ran from her temple and disappeared beneath her jaw.

I reached for her.

The roof shifted again.

My hooked boot tore loose.

"Rex!"

I dropped.

My fingers caught the edge of a maintenance hatch. The impact slammed my shoulder into the roof hard enough to numb my arm. Below me, the city opened in layers of neon, smoke, and concrete.